No mask No entry question?

[OneofPansPeople]

Can a hairdresser legally refuse to serve non mask wearers ?

@OneofPansPeople

Can a hairdresser legally refuse to serve non mask wearers ?

Not very easily!

By law you must make reasonable adjustments for disability under the equality act.

So they could say no customers in main room without masks but then provide a separate room or provide home service as a reasonable adjustment.

She can turn them away. It's not as clear cut as discrimination because the behavior of the non mask wearer puts the people in the salon at risk. The workers will have a claim that she isn't providing a safe work environment. The discrimination angle would take case law and there isn't any.

If she is offering a reasonable adaptation then it is acceptable under disability discrimination legislation eg my hairdressers is upstairs with a barbers below. If you are unable to climb stairs they will cut your hair downstairs - its different but not inferior

@emilyfrost

Of course they can. No business has to accept any customer they don’t want to.

Oh, so if I opened a shop I could stick a sign out the front saying 'No Jews', could I? Businesses are not permitted to discriminate based on protected characteristics. A blanket 'no mask, no entry' policy is illegal for the same reasons it is illegal to have a blanket 'no dogs' policy that does not make an exception for guide dogs. It's actually quite common for businesses to try to break the law on that one, but it doesn't mean they're allowed to.

Jews and guide dogs don't endanger staff or other customers.

What’s actually wrong with people failing to understand that nothing is going to protect anybody 100% and if that’s what you’re after stay at home in a sterilised bubble.

Go and read up on his many people are risk from viruses such as the chicken pox virus or the flu virus.

@emilyfrost

Of course they can. No business has to accept any customer they don’t want to.

Yeah no, not true.

What’s actually wrong with people failing to understand that nothing is going to protect anybody 100% and if that’s what you’re after stay at home in a sterilised bubble

I agree with you but nobody on here is going to buy it. They're all convinced that the bit of cloth i've had in my coat pocket for 6 months is going to repel all those pesky covids.

@SnowAllSpring

Jews and guide dogs don't endanger staff or other customers.

I wonder (and I have absolutely no idea), what the situation legally would be with a guide dog and a staff member/other customer severely allergic to dogs. Would the staff member be sent home, or the allergic customer asked to leave, to allow the guide dog owner to enter? I guess that’s a pretty rare situation, to be that allergic to dogs.

reformed Covid is not flu or chickenpox. I had chickenpox badly as an adult. I did not end up in hospital, dead, or with debilitating long Covid. I was not one of 150k deaths on top of year on year expected death rates. I did not block a bed and a ventilator causing eg cancer patients to have delays in treatment.
Obviously nothing other than complete isolation prevents spread. I’ve been out and about but being far more careful than I would about eg flu. I’ve a sibling with cancer who has been isolated due to vulnerability.

Honestly saying we need to read up on flu and chick pox is just irrelevant - unless I’ve massively misunderstood your post and had a long needless rant myself.

HeronLanyon

Of course you have misunderstood.

If I genuinely couldn't cope with a mask for the time a hairdresser appointment takes (which could be some time for eg highlights) I'd look for a mobile stylist. People who might be able to cope with it for five minutes while buying a pint of milk might find the hairdresser scenario quite different.

But equally not wearing one for 5 minutes in a shop is far less likely to infect someone than not wearing one in a salon for 2 hours.

A test might be the answer if you wanted that particular hairdresser and home visits weren't possible.

As for the dog scenario I'd hope that someone saying they'd be bringing their guide dog would let the salon know in advance though that doesn't help if a customer with allergies is in the salon when the person arrives with dog. Glad I don't have to sort that one out!

reformed in that case Apols. As I got to the end of mine I read yours again and still didn’t understand it quite. Was good to get all of that off my chest though.

I wonder (and I have absolutely no idea), what the situation legally would be with a guide dog and a staff member/other customer severely allergic to dogs. Would the staff member be sent home, or the allergic customer asked to leave, to allow the guide dog owner to enter?
I guess that’s a pretty rare situation, to be that allergic to dogs.

Again it's reasonable adjustment. Where two people's protected characteristics cause a conflict of interest, a solution should be worked that doesn't discriminate against either. In the above case the salon owner should have made sure that every other customer was aware there'd be a dog present. If they didn't then they should negotiate a rebooking of one of the customers.

Maybe she could have masked sessions where everyone in that session wears a mask and none masked where it's optional. With cleaning between?

However not sure if that's allowed as I assume that means there are lots of not exempt people who would not want to wear a mask and is that legal? I've lost the plot in what and what isn't legal.

Maybe she doesn’t want it herself. Having times for no masks wouldn’t solve that.

As long as there is an alternative, ie paid for lft test before entering etc then they should be able to set rules that keep themselves and other staff safe.

acting like everyone is a walking risk who definitely has COVID and are a risk to all others is sad and hysterical.
Are people not happy and feel protected even having had their vaccine and wearing masks themselves or is it just easier to discriminate against people who can not medically wear masks.

Most people abide by the rules.

If someone is exempt and they have a lanyard, your sister or anyone else in that salon isn't qualified to say anything about it.

The over 60s are vaccinated who are the majority of serious illness and deaths.
There would be no need for anyone to feel anxious about them sitting next to someone without a mask. They dont have to touch them etc anyway.

In my opinion, people who are so anxious about Covid and non mask wearers shouldn't go out anyway.

@reformedcharacters

What’s actually wrong with people failing to understand that nothing is going to protect anybody 100% and if that’s what you’re after stay at home in a sterilised bubble.

Go and read up on his many people are risk from viruses such as the chicken pox virus or the flu virus.

My thoughts exactly.

There isn't any hard evidence that masks give any protection, most people dont even wear them properly.

If someone wants to be fully protected from zombie flesh eating virus with a 99% recovery rate, stay at home.

Well said MrsHastingslikethebattle 👏🏻

ChristinaYang Yes, I think the other customer or staff member would be asked to leave to allow the disabled customer to enter because the occurrence of a customer coming into the salon with a guide dog will be a relatively rare occurrence for the staff member, a very rare occurrence for the other customer but an everyday reality for the disabled person. Able bodied people should make adjustments as one offs rather than disabled people having to make adjustments every day.

The hairdresser is allowed to protect themselves, the staff and other client's however they see fit.
If a client can't sit for that long with a mask on then they need to wait till masks aren't required.

Much the same as if you turned up with head lice then you'd be refused service.

@poppycat10 why do you think it would be different having a mobile stylist? We have the same rules as salons and I wouldn't do your hair if you weren't wearing a mask! I'm not being fined just because you don't wear a mask

@MrsHastingslikethebattle

Most people abide by the rules.

If someone is exempt and they have a lanyard, your sister or anyone else in that salon isn't qualified to say anything about it.

The over 60s are vaccinated who are the majority of serious illness and deaths.
There would be no need for anyone to feel anxious about them sitting next to someone without a mask. They dont have to touch them etc anyway.

In my opinion, people who are so anxious about Covid and non mask wearers shouldn't go out anyway.

This.

Those of us who are exempt have had months of being vilified, abused, threatened and judged for going about our daily lives, perfectly legally. Yes, we understand that people are worried, but that doesn't give anyone the right to abuse anyone else (either in real life, or on MN - I've had both). We're not selfishly, we're not conspiracy theorists, we can't try harder or wear a visor, we can't stay at home and not go to work/get on the bus/go to hospital appointments.

Up until now we've been told we're putting vulnerable people at risk and as such shouldn't go out in public. The thing is, the vulnerable people have now been vaccinated, many of them fully. Over 60% of adults have been vaccinated, vulnerable or not. I've been vaccinated. Yes, there's still a risk (although reduced) that I could pass it on. Yes, there is still a risk (albeit very, very small) that those who are unvaccinated could become very ill from covid. But with one in 2000 people being currently infected according to the latest figures, just how big is the risk anyway?

It's time to stop it with the mask policing. Those who can, should. Obviously. But those of us who can't should equally, finally, just be allowed to get on with it. Covid will always be a risk going forward, even after mask wearing is no longer mandatory, and unfortunately that has to be accepted - particularly if you're not vulnerable to covid.